A log of thoughts by Josiah "Duke" Harrist, updated regularly. Expect me to talk about indie folk, Shearwater, Metroidvania games, magical realism, yadda yadda and all the rest.
After the last piece I got published with Kill Screen magazine and my blog-wise writeup, I had a lot of pent-up emotional energy about my childhood and upbringing, and a lot of forlorn / angst / beautiful swirling around in my head.
What I didn't write about in my latest Kill Screen article was the significant role this Saturday morning ritual played into my relationship with my dad. I grew up loving him from a distance, sometimes closer, sometimes scared of him, often in awe, but the fact was that he worked the hard shift as a pilot, and his time was often spent providing for his family. Up until I turned 17, I'd never spent regular, significant time with him.
But I think we're both creatures of habit. "Whenever I go to a different city, I always try out their Rueben sandwiches," he told me recently. When I get into an airport, I buy myself a small black coffee and stare at it miserably while waiting for the gate to open. I also try to put on my best resting bitch face to discourage anyone from talking to me. It's nice not talking to anybody at eleven in the morning.
Ann Radcliffe, a pioneer of the literary gothic romance, used terror as a mechanic of self discovery. It’s a concept our culture has dumped for cheap scares and thrills in cinema and games: our fears embody something deeper, perhaps darker than we’d like to admit. Terror is another word for self-discovery . . . Chances are you haven’t played Haunting Ground (Demento in Japan). Released in 2005, the game is a strange brew of gothic horror, psych0sexual torment, and dog training. Most notably, the game was cowritten by Noboru Sugimura, who penned the scripts for several Resident Evil titles and Clock Tower 3.
Header image by Seth T. Hahne. Gallery photography by Allison Van Liere. This site represents Josiah Harrist as a writer, novelist and blogger, not as an employee of any company or brand. If you've read this far and want to see some more stuff Duke likes / has made, follow him on the links below.
